Canada has set a deadline of “no later than June 2015” for Sikorsky to begin delivering its first block of CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopters to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Deliveries of the second block will begin in 2018 and the fleet is set to be deemed “fully capable” in 2021. However, even then, the RCAF won’t be getting everything it wanted.
This is according to the Department of National Defence (DND) in the aftermath of a joint announcement with the government’s procurement arm, Public Works and Government Services Canada, that they had amended their contract with Sikorsky. The capital acquisition cost of 28 aircraft is unchanged at $1.9 billion, and while the value of the $5.7 billion in-service support contract is unchanged, its term has been extended by 10 years, to 2038.
When the government and Sikorsky announced the changes June 18, they said that Sikorsky’s first export sale of the Cyclone, a variant of the H-92 Superhawk, would be “operationally relevant” for the RCAF. Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jackson explained to Vertical that this means the helicopters would be “capable of conducting the training and missions required of them.”
Block 1 aircraft will initially be limited mainly to search and rescue (SAR) and utility transport roles. However, in early 2016 “as enhancements are completed,” Jackson added, “the aircraft will be suitable for limited anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions such as those requiring the use of weapons in a threat environment.”
The RCAF is accepting that it will not be getting what DND initially described as “a small number of capabilities and/or requirements.” DND told Vertical that the Cyclones’ main gearbox run-dry capability will be “in line with all other RCAF aircraft.” Sikorsky designed the gearbox “to ensure that the possibility of a total loss of lubrication is very remote” and that “through extensive testing, proper operating procedures will be established to satisfy the required airworthiness regulations, including the civil run dry requirement, to ensure the safety of the crew and aircraft.”
Despite that, and the deletion of some “crew comfort” concessions, as well as the loss of autonomous self-start at low temperatures — the aircraft’s operating range is -60 to +120 Fahrenheit (-51 to +49 degrees Celsius) – DND said the RCAF had been involved in negotiating the changes and insisted that the “final configuration [. . .] will be at the forefront of modern technology and one of the most capable maritime helicopters.”
When deemed fully capable, the Cyclones will be able to operate in up to Sea State 6, which the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization defines as “very rough,” with waves 13 to 20 feet (four to six metres) high. However, another concession in the amended capital acquisition contract is that the Cyclones will not have automatic life-raft deployment.
Contracted to Sikorsky after a competitive bidding process, the Maritime Helicopter Program has since been fraught with problems, mainly due to the government refining the helicopter’s mission requirements. There also were issues with, among other things, engine power and mission systems.
The upshot was that Sikorsky eventually supplied several “interim” Cyclones, which “lack a functioning mission system” and remained the company’s property even as the RCAF used them for evaluation and training purposes in Shearwater, N.S. DND told Vertical that those aircraft are to be returned to Sikorsky for retrofitting during the Block 1 delivery period, and will be returned to Canada as part of Block 2.
